McDermott, defense help new coach Cupples earn his first state playoff victory in defeat of Abington Heights.

PECKVILLE — It was brutally cold late Saturday afternoon at John Henzes Veterans Memorial Stadium, and yet, despite the numbing cold in the high altitude of Lackawanna County, John Cupples was in no hurry to leave the field.

Cupples is in his first year as Central Catholic's head coach and what was made clear in his first state-playoff victory is that this Vikings team has taken on the rough-and-rugged personality of its coach.

Cupples was a hard-hitting linebacker on the Vikings' 1998 state championship team and a 23-0 win over Abington Heights on Saturday put this CCHS squad three wins away from its own PIAA gold.

Central combined a typically spectacular 260-yard, three-touchdown rushing performance by Colin McDermott with a solid, if not stifling, defensive effort to advance to the PIAA 3A quarterfinals for the fourth consecutive year.

The Vikings (8-5) will play District 4 champ Selinsgrove, a 41-14 winner over University Prep in its first-round game, at 7 Friday night at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium.

"Hey, I don't mind the cold," Cupples said before heading into the locker room. "I'll take another week of it."

And, he'll take another performance like the one his team registered against the District 2 champion Comets, who were eliminated from the state tournament for the third time in four years by the Vikings.

This one, however, was vastly different from the 54-14 pasting CCHS put on Abington Heights in this same round two years ago.

It was also quite different from the amazing 61-54 shootout Central staged with Valley View this same weekend last year.

Valley View was the host school on Saturday and some of the same people who witnessed that 115-point offensive extravaganza a year ago at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium noted the vast improvement of the Central defense.

Cupples noted the change of his defense from September of this season when the Vikings started 1-3 and gave up 32 points per game during an early three-game losing streak.

Now CCHS has done what not even the 2010 state champions could do -- post back-to-back shutouts. The Vikings have also allowed just 13 total points in their last four games.

"The last two weeks the defense has played just great football," Cupples said. "And, really, it's not just the last two weeks. All season long these have been fighting and really coming together."

Cupples also gave props to his defensive coaches, especially coordinator Doug Yanders, who had been on Mike Palos' staff at Bethlehem Catholic two years ago. Tom Braxmeier, who like Cupples played at Moravian College, and Gabe Robinson also coach the defense.

"Those guys do a great job working with the kids and the kids do a great job of following the game plan," Cupples said. "They're doing a much better job of tackling and they're in position to make the plays."

Central put itself in position for a convincing victory by getting two second-quarter scores, both McDermott TD runs.

The first came after a 12-play, 73-yard drive that featured a lot of – who else?– McDermott. He carried nine times for 52 yards. That drive also featured the only two completions of the day by quarterback Anthony Beck, a 13-yarder to Ryan Beville and a five-yard connection to Kevin Kern.

Beville was then instrumental in Central's next score as his 63-yard punt return carried all the way to the Abington Heights 2. A rare sideline interference penalty pushed the Vikings back to 17, but all that did was give McDermott more running room.

He carried five straight times to cover the 17 yards, scoring from two yards out to make it 13-0.

"The offensive line has been doing a great job and allows Colin to do his thing," Cupples said.

It took McDermott just two carries at the start of the third quarter to extend the Vikings' lead as he went for 12 yards and then 44 to push the gap to 20-0 just 34 seconds into the second half.

On Central's next possession, he went 47 yards to the Comets 6. The drive stalled there, but Robert Fidati booted a 22-yard field goal and that was it for the scoring.

Abington Heights tried to get back in it with a drive to the CCHS 8 after hitting two big pass plays, but the Comets were halted by three straight incompletions.

McDermott, wisely, was held out for most of the final period as CCHS used a heavy dose of Kevin Kern to move the sticks and chew up the clock.

McDermott's big rushing day puts him unofficially, at 2,742 yards for the season and 5,922 in his career with 79 touchdowns.